Wake Up, America! The Race Against Climate Change
Last year, the United Nations Climate Change Project hosted by the French Embassy asked Full Sail University students and graduates to submit pieces in the categories of art, music, film, and marketing to raise awareness and educate audiences about the issue of climate change.
The winners Dimitri Pantchev, from Bulgaria, Dionne Ramdeen, from Jamaica and Justice Soule from Alaska, were given the opportunity to travel to Paris to create video assets for several ecological technology companies.
They talked about their experience with the French culture and working with international clients, during a Full Sail panel earlier this week. Apart from the chance of experiencing the art scene, by visiting the Lumière Institute, where the contributions of the Lumière brothers–the fathers of cinema and inventors of the cinematograph–are displayed and honored; the winners talked about the importance of finding ways to connect with international clients.
Torres talked about her experience traveling abroad, “While there is a difference in cultures, people are all fundamentally the same and can always connect on some deeper level.” Soule stressed on the topic and suggested getting to know your client “on a personal level,” to which Ramdeen added, “find similarities and connect with them.”
I asked the panelists more about their work and to compare Europe and United States on their eco-technological advancements. Pantchev believes Europe is further ahead regarding climate change, and praised the local government for their assistance program to the companies they came to know such as Lactips, which creates biodegradable plastic, and Coldep, which cleans bodies of water through a “vacuum airlift process.”
Soule, was amazed that cars in France were “smaller and fuel efficient,” and had their public electric charging stations. However, she is confident we are heading towards a “greener earth.” Fascinated, she talked about the technologies developed by HydroQuest , which creates “hydrokinetic turbines,” or “water windmills” as Soule calls them; and La Casemate, an open “fablab” where people are encouraged to go and play with technology to understand and help promote the issue of climate change.
Ramdeen’s clients, Biome, specializes in treating industrial wastewater, and Enerbee, works to create motion-sensor smart objects.
Torres tells that when riding a train in Paris, she noticed a man reading a book called “Wake up, America!” Then, she realized what the rest of the world might think of the United States, and agreeing with Pantchev, believes we still have a long way to go in catching up with other countries and that the best medium to spread the necessary information are videos and social media. In closing, Ramdeen urged all of us to talk about these issues with friends and family and to get involved in our communities and with organizations such as Compost Orlando.
To learn more about Compost Orlando head to their website.
Written By: Alejandro Montaño